Blogging A-Z April Challenge: Theme Reveal!

If you’ve been a part of the blogging community for any appreciable amount of time, you might have heard about the massive blogging event known as the “Blogging A-Z April Challenge”, which takes place in, you guessed it, April.

While I didn’t take part in the event my first year blogging, I have sufficiently gotten my blogging act together, and will be participating this year. That means that for twenty-six days in April, I will have a post here––one for each letter of the alphabet.

The posts won’t be particularly long, most being under 300 words, so I hope readers who already follow me won’t get too overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of content.

If you are a blogger, and are interested in participating (all blogging platforms welcomed), visit the A-Z Challenge website and add your name to the list––quick, there’s not much time left! And hey, if you want me to follow you, be sure to leave your link in the comments below and I’ll do my best to come by every day and share the love. 🙂

The purpose of today’s post, however, is to reveal my “theme” for April’s posts.

My Blogging A-Z April Challenge Theme

I realized, as I was thinking about all of the possible themes I could do here, that the one that is probably most important is helping new readers (and old) get to know me a little better. That’s why I’ve decided to make all of my April topics dedicated to writing. Not “how” to write, but rather the things I love about writing, my inspirations, books, how I got to this point, etc. My hope is that each post will be fun, amusing, or insightful, and enjoyable whether you are a writer, reader, or anyone else, really.

You can expect a lot of nostalgia, photographs, fan-gushing, and musings about the writing industry and community.

About Me

If this is your first time to visit my blog, you probably know little to nothing about me. I encourage you to check out my About page. To add on to what you’ll find there, I am an English teacher in Kyoto, where I have lived for the last four years with my girlfriend of five years. Our life is one filled with book-buying, writing (as we are both writers, with several shared universes), traveling all around Japan (and some surrounding countries), and in general having a grand time of it. She’s also participating in A-Z, if you’re interested in following her.

When I am not writing, I am editing, beta-reading, doing book layout and learning anything I possibly can without tearing my hair out. If you are interested in book layout stuffs, I actually have another site you can check out, www.countrymousedesign.com.

Looking forward to meeting, and blogging, with all of you!

P.S.- I will be in Seoul for the first few days of April, so might be behind on checking up on all of your blogs and the comments here at the very beginning… fear not, I will return!

P.S.S.- My 100th post is very close… very, very close, and I have something special planned for its publication. Be sure to check back, and don’t miss out on a very unique giveaway party. See you all there!

Piers Anthony, whom I read all through high school but, mostly, wouldn’t touch, now.
However, he did have great Author’s Notes, which is one of the things that kept me interested in him for so long. He was the only author I read that talked about his life and who he was and all that kind of stuff. He’s why I do author’s notes the way I do them.

Ah, now that you mention it, I think you did mention that in one of your author’s notes. At least it sounds familiar. I can see that, too.

I used to read a lot of Japanese comics, and the artists used to draw themselves once or twice on the sideline of one page in a mini-comic about how much their editor must hate them for being late, or how their publisher takes care of them by sending hot food to their house, etc. I always enjoyed those little windows into their lives (though I never envied their existence…)

Hey. This is my first time participating in AtoZ. You know Kyoto always reminds me of Kyoto Protocol. I’m glad I came across your site via challenge. It’ll be interesting to follow through your influences. 🙂

Thanks for the comment! I’ve just started following you, as well. And yes, it’s not surprising that it reminds you of the Kyoto Protocol! The protocol was ratified in Kyoto, about ten minutes from my work, in a giant park.

Download the image. Upload it to your media library. In the media library, copy the URL they give you on the right. Then, go to your Widgets and add the “Image” one. In the widget, paste the URL. 🙂 That should solve it.

Hi Alex.
This is my second time participating in the challenge. I had a lot of the fun the first time around, and really look forward to this time too. My daughter is in love with Japan. She’s never been, but she likes the fashion, the culture, the entertainment. 🙂

Thank you for the comment, Jennifer! I’m very excited for this round, and hoping I can keep my energy up all through April…. we’ll see! Sounds like your daughter would love Harajuku. It’s the fashion capital of Japan. 🙂

Nice to find someone else going for the challenge! This will be my first as well. 🙂 I look forward to getting to know you better.
I LOVE Kyoto. I stayed there for three days, in a ryokan near Fushimi Inari shrine, when I visited Japan in October 2005, My goal is to come back to see the sakura. …maybe next year, but I’ve been saying that for about 8 years now. 😛
Be reading you soon! 🙂

Sharing your influences is a great idea! I’m so amazed you live in Japan. My first “Hauntings” post will be about Aokigahara Forest. (I’d follow you, but I don’t see a Google Friend Connect box.) Have a lovely weekend. 🙂

Thank you for following me at Triggershorse, which led me here to your blog. Although I have had my blog for a couple of years, I started blogging daily with a blogging challenge in November. I love the idea of this A to Z one, and am heading to that blog now! – Fawn